The Sky Opens Up

A thousand prayers were answered this evening when rain finally came to Enosean. A few quick taps on the tin roof quickly turned into a downpour as Barrett and his solar students paused for a moment to give thanks. Jackson, the man of our host house, was days away from losing his entire crop due to draught. As his major source of income- an idea introduced to the Maasai in the last 100 years- this would have been detrimental to his health and that of his families’. I walked outside to get a taste of my first Kenyan rain, and as I looked up I noticed that it looked as if the sky had actually opened up to deliver us this precious gift. Today, October 28, we breathe a long sigh of relief.

We love the kids!

Just a few pictures of that are too great not to share.

What are we teaching?

Some of you might be wondering what are we teaching in this class that I am posting about,
so here is some clarification.

Its a six day class that's structured as follows:

Day 1:
Introductions of people, class structure, calendar and a very basic overview
of solar electricity.

Day 2:
The Small Home Solar System: a small DC only solar electric system sized
for the average local home. Enough electricity for some lights and a tv or radio.
Basic Electrical including Watts, Volts, Amperes and Ohms.
What is a solar panel and how does it work?

Day 3:
Batteries: the types, maintenance and how they are rated
Charge Controllers: What they are, what they do, and what makes for a good one.
Wiring: How to do it well and why doing it well is important.

Day 4
System Sizing: getting the right amount of electricity for your devices
Maintaining the entire system and trouble shooting
Installation of a Small Home System

Day 5
Business idea surrounding solar, how to run a micro solar business
Basic business skills and accounting

Day 6
Wrap up and extended question time
Preparation for the hands on installation that will be happening the following week.

That's the program. This is just the theory part of the class, it is followed by two
weeks of actually installing a system on a school which is the practical part. Then
we have a few more days of training afterward to establish maintenance routines
and to answer any questions raised during the training.

Schedule for Solar Maasai Training and Install

To keep you all abreast of developments, here is brief overview of the time line for the project.

Original Training:

October 22 & 23, 26 - 30

Gathering Material in Nairobi and receiving the team from America:

November 1-15

Installation of Solar Power at Emprukel:

November 16 - December 4

Commissioning of System at Emprukel:

December 5

Follow up training and completion of training:

December 6 - 12

At the end of all training two of our local technicians will be hired to
maintain the system. The trainee that shows the most enthusiasm and
aptitude will return to California next spring to take a nine month internship
at the Solar Living Institute in Northern California.

Currently it is Monday Morning in Kenya and we are preparing to start the
second week of training with our 20 trainees.

Arrival and Beginning of Training

The team has arrived at Emprukel and training has begun. We have received a warm welcome and are currently educating 20 locals on the benefits of function. We had our first full day of class yesterday and the students was engaged and extremely respectful. We will continue throughout next week. Stay posted for more....

Video from Kenyan News about Wilson's most recent trip

Check out this video about Wilson's most recent trip to Kenya and the release of his book.